Tsumeb vendors say they will not move to the newly constructed fruit and vegetable hub as it does not meet their requirements.

The Tsumeb Open Market was officially opened by Urban and Rural Development Minister Erastus Uutoni about two months ago.

When the Urban and Rural Development Minister was officially opening the market on August 6th, this year, vendors could be heard chitchatting about their dissatisfaction with the newly constructed market.

One would reason that the fact that the newly constructed market is next to the current place where vendors are selling would be a swift move for the vendors.

Two months later, the more than N$2 million market is still standing idle with only a security guard to take care of the infrastructure.

Upon inquiries from the vendors as to why they have not moved yet, their list of dissatisfaction with the new open market was endless, citing that they were not consulted on how the market should be constructed.

Chairperson of Tsumeb Open Market, Tuhafeni Mwaetako, says, "The market is so open that it does not protect one from the sun nor rain, and they are constructed in the way that some vendors are behind, and tomato sellers cannot be behind each other; they are supposed to be in the same line."

A vendor at Tsumeb Open Market, Ndilimeke Haindingili, says, "When you look at the interlock and the pavement, the pavement needs to be removed to enable our suppliers to drive in when bringing stock for us."

Another vendor, Julia Andima, says, "We need storerooms. We order a variety of items that need to be stored, but we are only allocated space for a desk and a few items. We sell a lot of other things."

Not only that, the cubicles marked for the vendors selling food items are allegedly too small, as the food basins will not fit in there.

They added that the upslope to the food vendor stalls is not fitting, especially for the elderly, and will become worse during the rainy seasons.

They also want vendors selling at the filling stations to be catered to at the open market, as they will not get customers if some vendors continue selling at the service stations.

They are calling on the municipality to attend to their queries and restructure the market according to their preferences before they move in.

Tsumeb Municipality Town Planner Manuel Pedro says they will attend to the vendor needs and adjust the open market accordingly.

He says the municipality is currently busy with procurement for the necessary materials.